Nonna + Zucchero — Restaurant in San Diego

Ok so we came to SD for a quick getaway from LA. We saw so much in just 2 days. As a fellow Italian, Sicilian, I had to check out LITTLE ITALY. While there I saw a multitude of places to eat. NONNA'S caught my eye as ebay Italian boy or girl calls their grandma, nonna!

I did a quick online search and saw they had very good reviews and a Sicilian bakery and that was enough for me to stop by.

We ordered 2 spaghetti dishes. The Bolognes and their Pappardelle. Their Bolognese with meatballs was to die for. Delicious!! Their Pappardelle dish was ok. We were a bit let down. It lacked flavor and richness and felt like flat pasta with barely any sauce more like a thin watery gravy. The pasta portions are SLIGHTLY stingy, pasta is super cheap agghiunci n'àutru cucchiaru. I had soooo much sauce and meat left after I quickly finished all the pasta I wanted to order a side of plain pasta so I could enjoy the rest of the meat sauce.

They had a nice selection of Italian sodas and wines etc.

And then came time for DESSERT!! We tried some various ones. Be sure to order the desserts to go after you pay your dinner bill as they charge more to order at the table.

Ordered 2 of the 4 different cannoli. The Lemon and the plain. Both were good, the plain in my opion was better. Ordered the cartoccio and OMG!! Its an Italian donut stuffed with chocolate chip cannoli cream, delicious! Tried a slice of their cassata cake, which is a traditional Sicilian cake and that too was very good! Lastly I had their Sfogliatelle, which I normally love, but their was a bit hard chewy almost rubbery on the outside. Not sure if I just got a bad one, the inside tasted pretty good.

I only wish they had lobstertail with cannoli filling, its my absolute favorite pastery.

The service was excellent! Our waiter was a tall slim Patrick Dempsey looking AND sounding handsome fella. Very attentive and very personable.

If you go to San Diego and love real authentic Italian, Sicilian food, then you have to go here and you have to save room for dessert!!

I should be getting paid in cannolis for...

It was a summer day like any other. I found myself craving some quality Italian food, and what better place to look than Little Italy’s Nonna? Indeed, upon me and my date’s arrival, the crisp air swept through the rugged Italian streets, perfectly complementing the crispy nature of Nonna’s thin-crust pizza. It is almost as if the pride of the Italian people has culminated in the form of this perfectly presented pizza that pleasantly pleases your palate. Paired with their signature focaccia bread, Nonna delivers a fantastical display of elegance with its natural earthy undertones, also reflected by its interior design. This time however, I enjoyed an exterior, street-facing experience, the sun playing around the drinking glasses casting patterns onto the checkered Italian tablecloths. It is highly recommended that you order one of their ravioli dishes, for the creamy tomato sauce is the perfect caloric addition to any of the aforementioned carbohydrates. The service did not leave anything to be desired either; they consistently ensured that the food was to our liking, the water filled to the brim, and the boxes delivered at the end of our time for our culinary enjoyment later in the evening. Even after several hours of lying dormant within the respite of my car’s trunk, the boxed goods did not drop in viability or value. Despite the Michelin-worthy quality one can expect at Nonna, the overall experience felt as though we were dining in a rustic Italian villa overlooking the Tuscan countryside. The insurmountable importance of a relaxed dining experience is not overlooked by Nonna; nay, it is a core component of the classy restaurant. Nonna’s greatest strengths are also it’s greatest weakness; with the bar being set so high, the gentleman may fear that no other restaurant will satisfy his date as well as Nonna and that she may leave him so that another man will take her to Nonna so that she may experience...

We came here 3 times in 4 days because of how delicious the food is. However, today we weren't treated like the 1st two times. In fact, if we were treated like this the 1st time, we definitely would not have returned.

The hostess greeted us nicely each and every time. As she sat us today, we waited a while for our waiter to come for our drinks. He said he would bring water and come back for our order. We already knew what to order since we had been there twice back to back and tasted each others foood. My husband asked if the waiter had tried the Italian sodas and he said "I don't know, never tried them." He hadnt greeted us, was very short with each response.

My husband ordered his drink and then I ordered my food. My food came, delicious as before but my husband never received the Italian soda he had ordered. The ladies next to us seemed to have had his attention as he made sure their cups never were empty, but ours remained empty as we ate. He was even more attentive to these ladies' (mom and daughter) dog than he was to us. He kept talking to the dog right next to us and talking the ladies outside the perimeter of the plants. Not once did he ask if our food was fine, if I wanted another drink, and never brought my husband's Italian soda. When we asked for the check, he practically threw it at us.

I hadn't been stereotyped in years. Years. But today, it sure felt like I was. I had taken my sons to Logan Barrio this morning and explained the injustices migrant farm workers (as myself) endured and how Cesar Chavez helped fight for our rights. Only, to be treated differently in this same city fighting the same battles. San Diego is a beautiful city that was helped found by Mexican Americans. We are living in 2023, this shouldn't be happening anymore but unfortunately it does. I don't feel people like today's waiter should work at places as diverse as San Diego with an attitude and...